THE VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN
WHEN BRANDING IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in Design Management by
Sara Patrícia Martins Gancho
Lancaster University – Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Institute for the Contemporary Arts/ Imagination Lancaster
June, 2015
Supervisors:
Professor Dr. Rachel Cooper Dr. Martyn Evans
Address:
Sara Gancho
Rua da Paz, Lote 2 – 2DRT 2860-‐447 Moita
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Dr. Rachel Cooper and Dr. Martyn Evans who have guided and supported me through out these last five years. They have motivated me and inspired me to continue to work harder each day. Also to the staff at ImaginationLancaster for their knowledge and support during my PhD journey. To all the people who participated in my investigation but also to the ones that provided me with feedback that kept me working harder and allowed me to keep developing it further. I learned so much from all of you and I thank you for that. To the Foundation for Science and Technology in Portugal (FCT) who funded me during this period and that made this venture of doing a PhD possible. I would also like to acknowledge my parents who always believed and showed support in what I was doing and encouraged me to start my Masters which eventually lead me to do a PhD later on. Lastly, I warmly thank my husband, also journeying into a PhD himself (from a different scientific area), for his constant support, understanding and critical comments that were crucial for the culmination of this thesis. To my cat Luna for “annoying and distracting” me while jumping on my keyboard and typing in random letters, thank you for the so much needed distraction, after hours of computer screen facing. Least but not last, to our Daniel for keeping me company during revisions, we love you.
Declaration of Authorship
I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. To the best of my knowledge it does not contain any materials previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text.
……….. Sara Gancho
Abstract
This thesis is an investigation into understanding the role of design and designers, when branding in social media. The work presented in this study considers what value design can bring to branding in social media. It identifies design skills necessary to work in branding in social media, and investigates how design strategy and marketing strategy can relate to social media strategy. It also examines what roles designers could play in the future of social media. In order to fully answer these interdisciplinary questions and address this recent phenomenon of social media, the literature review considers three different domains and areas of expertise: marketing, design and social media. With regard to marketing the focus was on the branding literature concerned with strategic brand management and also social marketing management literature. We attempted to connect aspects of brand design that were crucial to the social media field. In the design chapter we focused on its importance to both branding and social media. We addressed the importance of design management in branding today and how it is connected to new research in social media. We analysed social media history and how it has developed into a growing and important platform for brands to connect with consumers and vice versa. We aimed to underline the way these three different areas of expertise connect with one another in an attempt to answer the research questions.
We conducted the empirical work with the collaboration of the one hundred and three multidisciplinary individuals (from marketing, design and/or social media areas) who answered the online questionnaire through a quantitative method approach. Qualitative data was also gathered from the twenty-‐one individuals through semi-‐structured interviews with experts in marketing, design and social media areas. We included participants from the United Kingdom and Portugal. We developed two models based on the literature review and empirical data analysis. These models were then validated with thirteen of the expert participants in an online mixed method questionnaire. This ultimately led to the remodelling of the previous models into two new models that combined the feedback and analysis and reflected the overall findings of this thesis.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... 3
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ... 4
ABSTRACT ... 5
1. INTRODUCTION ... 12
1.1
OVERVIEW ... 12
1.2 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ... 12
1.3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS ... 14
1.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY ... 17
1.5 TERM DEFINITIONS ... 19
SECTION 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ... 21
2. SECTION OVERVIEW ... 21
2.1 BRANDING ... 21
2.1.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING ... 23
2.1.2 BRAND HISTORY ... 24
2.1.3 BRAND MODELS ... 27
2.1.3.1 BRAND ORIENTATION MODEL ... 30
2.1.3.2 BRAND IDENTITY ... 31
2.1.3.3 BRAND IMAGE ... 34
2.1.3.4 BRAND DNA ... 34
2.1.3.5 BRAND PERSONALITY ... 35
2.1.3.6 BRAND ARCHETYPES ... 36
2.1.4 BRAND STRATEGY ... 38
2.1.5 BRAND LEADERSHIP ... 39
2.1.6 BRAND EQUITY ... 41
2.1.7 CORPORATE BRANDING ... 43
2.1.8 EMOTIONAL BRANDING ... 46
2.1.9 PERSONAL BRANDING ... 48
2.2 BRANDING CONCLUSIONS ... 54
2.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN IN BRANDING ... 56
3. DESIGN ... 58
3.1 DESIGN IN BRANDING ... 64
3.2 DESIGN DISCIPLINES ... 67
3.2.1 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ... 69
3.2.2 GRAPHIC DESIGN ... 72
3.2.3 SERVICE DESIGN ... 74
3.2.4 DESIGN MANAGEMENT ... 75
3.2.4.1 DESIGN MANAGEMENT MODELS ... 79
3.2.4.2 DESIGN MANAGEMENT AND BRANDING ... 84
3.3 DESIGN CONCLUSIONS ... 85
4.1 EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA ... 89
4.2 SOCIAL MEDIA AND BRANDS ... 92
4.3 SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES ... 101
4.4 SOCIAL MEDIA MODELS ... 101
4.4.1 CUSTOMER TRIANGLE MODEL ... 102
4.4.2 SOCIAL MEDIA INITIATIVES MODEL ... 103
4.4.3 SOCIAL MARKETING TOTAL PROCESS PLANNING MODEL ... 104
4.4.4 SIX SOCIAL SPHERES OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING MODEL ... 105
4.4.5 POST-‐METHOD MODEL ... 108
4.4.6 WEINBERG’S ROI MODEL ... 108
4.5 WORD-‐OF-‐MOUTH ... 109
4.6 VIRAL MARKETING ... 110
4.7 USERS IN SOCIAL MEDIA ... 112
4.8 SOCIAL MEDIA CONCLUSIONS ... 116
SECTION CONCLUSIONS ... 118
SECTION 2: METHODOLOGY ... 120
5. OVERVIEW ... 120
5.1 INTRODUCTION ... 120
5.2 METHODOLOGY ... 125
5.2.1 QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY ... 126
5.2.2 QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY ... 128
5.2.3 MIXED METHODOLOGY ... 130
5.3 RESEARCH DESIGN ... 130
5.3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS ... 131
5.3.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS ... 133
6. DATA COLLECTION ... 136
6.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ... 137
6.2 TRIANGULATION OF METHODS ... 144
6.3 EXPLORATORY STUDY ... 144
6.4 SEMI-‐STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS ... 147
6.5 ONLINE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ... 153
SECTION 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS ... 155
7. DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS ... 155
7.1 OVERVIEW ... 155
7.2 EXPLORATORY STUDY ANALYSIS ... 157
7.2.1 EXPLORATORY STUDY FINDINGS ... 159
7.3 FULL STUDY: ONLINE SURVEY ANALYSIS ... 161
7.3.1 CONCLUSIONS ... 169
7.4 FULL STUDY: SEMI-‐STRUCTURED INTERVIEW ANALYSIS ... 171
7.4.3 CONCLUSIONS ... 189
8. DESIGN MANAGEMENT MODELS IN SOCIAL MEDIA ... 191
8.1 MODELS VALIDATION ... 196
8.2 DATA COLLECTION ... 197
8.4 MODELS REFINEMENT ... 203
9. CONCLUSIONS ... 210
9.1 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS AGAINST RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 214
9.2 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ... 222
9.3 LIMITATIONS ... 224
9.4 FUTURE WORK ... 226
10. BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 227
11. APPENDICES ... 241
List of Tables
Table 1. The Research Questions ... 16
Table 2. The Milestones of Brand History, Moon (2000) ... 25
Table 3. The functions of the brand for the consumer ... 28
Table 4. Brand values identification parameters, Mollerup (1997) ... 29
Table 5. Brand Personality, Aaker (1997) ... 36
Table 6. Brand Archetypes, José Martins, 1999 (translated by the author) ... 37
Table 7. The design Process, Borja de Mozota (2013:15) ... 62
Table 8. The Brand Building process, Best (2008) ... 65
Table 9. Types of Design Disciplines, Borja de Mozota (2003) ... 68
Table 10. Buchanan's Matrix (1998) ... 68
Table 11. Four Powers of Design, Brigitte Borja de Mozota (2006) ... 77
Table 12. Shifts in the way brands are managed, Abbing & Gessel (2008) ... 84
Table 13. Brand Driven Innovation, Abbing & Gessel (2008) ... 85
Table 14. Social media Classification, Li and Bernoff (2008) ... 88
Table 15. The evolution of the social web affects consumers, brands and social networks, Stelzner (2012) .... 90
Table 16. Social media Models ... 102
Table 17. ROI model, Weinberg (2009) ... 109
Table 18. Paradigms ... 122
Table 19. Examples of Primary Data in social Research by Hox, Boeije (2005) ... 125
Table 20. Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed methods procedures ... 126
Table 21. Purposes, Major benefits and possible problems ... 132
Table 22. Questioning and Observation Approach ... 139
Table 23. Colours and Themes ... 143
Table 24. Exploratory study questionnaire interviewees ... 145
Table 25. Exploratory study -‐ Online survey interviewees ... 146
Table 26. Interview Participants in United Kingdom ... 149
Table 27. Interview Participants In Portugal ... 149
Table 28. Semi-‐structured interview questions ... 151
Table 29. Key Theme Findings ... 158
Table 30. Question 2 -‐ Table ... 161
Table 30. Question 3 -‐ Table ... 163
Table 31. Question 4 -‐ Table ... 164
Table 32. Question 5 -‐ Table ... 165
Table 33. Question 6 -‐ Table ... 166
Table 34. Coding Summary -‐ Portugal and United Kingdom social media differences ... 188
List of Figures
Figure 1. The Thesis Structure...………19
Figure 2. Alfa Romeo Logo ... 26
Figure 3. Porshe Logo ... 26
Figure 4. From Brand assets to Brand Equity ... 28
Figure 5. The Brand Hexagon – A conceptual Model of a Brand Oriented Company and its identity, Urde (1994-‐97) ... 31
Figure 6. The Relationship between Brand Equity and Brand Identity, Upshaw (1995) ... 32
Figure 7. The core of Brand Identity, Upshaw (1995)………34
Figure 8. Brand Identity Perspectives, Aaker (1996)………..34
Figure 9. Brand DNA model, Ellwood (2000) ... 35
Figure 10. Brand Archetypes, Jansen (2006) ... 38
Figure 11. Brand Leadership Model, Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000) ... 40
Figure 12. Consumer-‐Based Brand Equity Pyramid, Keller (2003) ... 43
Figure 13. The Corporate Brand, Hatch and Schultz (2001) ... 44
Figure 14. Emotional Branding, Gobé (2001)………..48
Figure 15. Personal branding, McNally, Speak (2002) ... 49
Figure 16. Concentric model of a strong brand, Simmons (2010) ... 66
Figure 17. Concentric Model of a Strong Brand (detail), Simmons (2010) ... 66
Figure 18 -‐ Design Value -‐ Balanced Score Card model. R. Kaplan and D. Norton ... 78
Figure 19. Design as strategy, Process and Styling, Borja de Mozota (2006) ... 79
Figure 20. Design Management -‐ H. Hase et al (2006: p.24) ... 80
Figure 21. Danish Design Ladder ... 80
Figure 22. Design Management Staircase, Koostra (2009) ... 81
Figure 23. Model by Sun, Williams and Evans (2011). ... 83
Figure 24. The five Eras of social media, Owyang (2009) ... 91
Figure 25. The social media Trinity Model ... 92
Figure 26. Raman Model ... 93
Figure 27. Groundswell Model, Li and Bernoff (2008) ... 94
Figure 28. Business uses of social media, eMarketer (2012) ... 96
Figure 29. Attitude toward a company with unanswered Questions on their social media Space, eMarketer (2012) ... 96
Figure 30. Level of importance of Company's Communication on social media according to US social media Users, eMarketer (2012) ... 97
Figure 31. Brand Relevance and Brand value in a B2B environment ... 98
Figure 32. Social Media ecosystem, Schultz (2007)……….99
Figure 33. Customer Triangle Model, Kotler, Zaltman (1971) ... 103
Figure 34. Social media Initiatives ... 104
Figure 35. Social media Council Total process planning model ... 105
Figure 36. The six spheres of social media marketing, Brian Carter (2009) ... 106
Figure 37. The six spheres of social marketing and the 4 phases of social marketing, Brian Carter (2009) . 106
Figure 38. Understanding where prospects are at in the 6 phases (detail), Brian Carter (2009) ... 107
Figure 39. Post-‐method Model ... 108
Figure 41. Five pieces of advice when spreading a virus ... 111
Figure 42. Onsite versus offsite web analytics ... 114
Figure 43. Literature Review scheme ... 137
Figure 44. Concept Maps 1 ... 143
Figure 45. Concept Maps 2 ... 143
Figure 46. Interview Participants area of expertise ... 150
Figure 47. Relationship between research questions and interview questions ... 152
Figure 48. Online Survey Participants Areas of Expertise ... 154
Figure 49. Research Approaches ... 156
Figure 50. Question 1 ... 161
Figure 51. Question 2 Plot ... 162
Figure 52. Question 3 Plot………..164
Figure 53. Question 4 Plot………..165
Figure 54. Question 5 Plot………..166
Figure 55. Question 6 Plot………..167
Figure 56. Knorr social media campaign……….173
Figure 57. Shu Uemura social media campaign………..174
Figure 57. Shu Uemura social media campaign………..174
Figure 58. Coding Summary -‐ branding in social media……….. 176
Figure 59. Coding Summary -‐ design in social media..……….. 179
Figure 60. Coding Summary -‐ skills to work in social media………..181
Figure 61. Coding Summary -‐ characteristics to work in social media………181
Figure 62. Social media strategy by Diesel……….182
Figure 63. Coding Summary of strategy in social media (all combined answers)………... 184
Figure 64. Coding Summary -‐ Future of social media category………... 187
Figure 65. Design in social media ladder ... 192
Figure 66. Social media design strategy ... 194
Figure 67. Question 1 -‐ Models Validation Survey ... 198
Figure 68. Question 2 -‐ Models Validation Survey ... 199
Figure 69. Question 3 -‐ Models Validation Survey ... 199
Figure 70. Question 4 -‐ Models Validation Survey ... 200
Figure 71. Question 5 -‐ Models Validation Survey ... 201
Figure 72. Question 6 -‐ Models Validation Survey ... 202
Figure 73. Model 1 v.2 Design in social media stages ... 204
Figure 74. Model 1 v.3 Design in social media stages ... ………206
Figure 75. Model 2 v.2 Social media Strategy ... 204
Figure 76. Model 2 v.3 Social media Strategy ... 209
1.
Introduction
1.1
Overview
This thesis is an investigation into the importance of design when branding in social media. It is a known fact that social media is used as a branding tool by companies (see chapter four), and as social media is growing rapidly each day, as is branding in social media. It is crucial to understand how branding and branding tools are used today in social media to comprehend what value design brings to the equation. Little is known of the role of design and designers in these social media platforms. We aim to find out what design can add in terms of value and importance to the business of branding in social media.
In this chapter we explain the research problem, determine the aims of the research and present an overview of the thesis structure as well as present the research questions.
The academic and general literature on social media is not current enough to understand the role of design and designers. This is due to the rapid changes and new developments that are occurring in social media platforms each day. From that understanding, we had the need to rely mostly on expert interviewees, case studies and ethnography in order to understand the area’s emerging issues, problems and general framework. Most literature found on social media refers to design as means for beautification, not as process, management or strategy.
1.2 The Research Problem
As a trained graphic designer with fourteen years of experience I have had the privilege to work within several design agencies, as an independent freelance designer, as a consulting expert but also in academia as a design, marketing and branding lecturer. Learning marketing for research was key to better understand how the marketplace operated, especially when it concerns brands.
Designers are visionaries and their market knowledge allied with their creativity and problem-‐ solving perspective makes them ideal candidates to work in brand innovation (Abbing, 2010). When discussing brand and design, author J. Heskett mentioned that the biggest problem was that both areas are frequently regarded as just decorative aesthetics. It is not just about the visual appearance that identifies it but also the complex design reality that is within. In order for
good branding to occur the image needs to be more then arbitrary, it has to have reflective meaning and quality in the reality that it represents (Heskett, 2008).
Design guides the brand through the structuring of its reality, by planning the processes that result in multiple products, communications, environments and systems. When the design is based on human needs there is the possibility of further identification from the user because he sees the design as beneficial to his life.
Heskett recommends that this approach be implemented in the internal affairs part of an organization. Internet affairs will then be able to find their aims in a strong way, but that does not occur. In order for this reality to happen design has to act on several levels of the organizations, from levels of execution skills to strategic resource (Heskett, 2008). That said, design is still regarded, by many businesses, as purely visual although its contributions to branding and to business and that has proved to be an investment (Borja de Mozota, 2004). How will design prove itself as an important tool (as it did with branding) for social media? Social Media is a communication platform that is highly visual and, is already being dominated by marketing, and marketing related literature, across multiple platforms. Design as designers know it is being called content marketing (Cook, 2012).
The advent of social media brought the possibility to create a place where digital identities and activities connect brands and consumer across distributed web. Social media is expansive and adaptable; it can be about exchanging and discovering niche content, such as video, images, bookmarks, events and news. By joining these networks brands are associating themselves with the industry, ideas, content and people that convey values (Solis, 2008).
Social media has always fascinated me since I became aware of its possibilities. It was a place for experimenting with content and it allowed me to connect with people and share my ideas, storytelling, and image content. It has become a space where brands and people come together and create something new. It can help new product development, it can deliver customized solutions and offer specific services to target groups. Social media domain areas such as storytelling, collaboration and interaction are all concepts design is highly familiar with, therefore the gap between design and marketing has been breached (Moon & Millison 2000) and (Parrish, 2006).
Researchers have said that design is part of the way towards the future, especially when it comes to products, services and systems (Berger,2010); (Neumeier,2009); (Borja de Mozota, 2003). Design thinking is also claimed to make companies more competitive. From developing differentiated products, services and systems that match consumer’s needs and desires. However there is little research done on how companies can embed design thinking to make them more competitive and able to face the future (Lee, Younjoon and Evans 2010).
Brand storytelling focuses on community, and how customers can help themselves and each other find the answers they need. It strives to pull the customer into a long-‐term, intimate relationship with the brand firm and its value-‐creation process a “one-‐to-‐one” partnership between customers and designers. This storytelling emphasizes the virtues of the
manufacturer’s integration framework for branded business solutions or lifestyle expressions (Quesenbery, Whitney and Brooks 2010).
Literature suggests that we can use design to improve branding in social media, using design processes and strategies. Design has branding knowledge and is an important asset to increase brand value and ROI revenue (Borja de Mozota, 2003b). This study aims to establish how important design is in social media platforms, its added value to branding strategy, and how branding in social media can take advantage of design knowledge to improve its relationship with consumers.
1.3 Aims, Objectives and Questions
The underpinning work is represented by five research questions. -‐ What is the role of design when branding in social media?
-‐ What design skills are necessary to work in branding in social media? -‐ Is design strategy similar to social media strategy?
-‐ What value does design bring to branding in social media? -‐ What roles will designers play in the future of social media?
The aim of this research is to identify the importance and value of design when branding in social media. Social media concerns branding and a study shows that 82% of managers in America use it as a branding tool (Herder, 2009). As social media is emerging as an important tool for both branding and design it becomes increasingly important to define and understand its importance on these areas.
It has become clear that the designer has a substantial knowledge base related to brands and marketing. Understanding the role of design in branding and in the different design disciplines is very important. The use of social media by brands is becoming a challenge for designers, as they are designing social media spaces, and the look and feel and content of this is generally managed and overseen by marketers. There is little academic research on the use of social media in branding and design. Therefore this thesis investigates the role of design in promoting brands within the social media space.
To develop this study we need to understand the social media ecosystem, which is focused on consumer experience, through the integration of marketing communication strategies in social media and combining them with traditional media. Social media provides an opportunity to create an integrated strategy that brings consumer’s experiences to the forefront. It is all about engagement with consumers, trying to get their attention and influence (Hanna et al., 2011).
We can also remark that the dynamics between clients and brands have also changed. Today we observe that consumers are dictating the rules and often hold the power over brands (Hanna et al., 2011). Recently we have watched rapid developments on the Internet such as, new networking sites, blogs and web applications that are receiving a lot of attention from several audiences. These new mediums are called social media and they can be viewed as new opportunities for business to build brand and to better communicate with customers. With social media (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google+, Instagram -‐ to name a few networks) companies are able to interact directly with customers, customers can share knowledge with each other and they can all participate in the on-‐going conversations (Robinson, 2009).
Social media extends the word-‐of-‐mouth that is considered to have a tremendous power on a brand, because people are more likely to believe their friends rather then the company (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2007). Social media therefore is a group of Internet-‐based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allowed the creation and exchange of “user generated content” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).
With the social media phenomenon brands have generated new ways to target their audience. Data collected from these different platforms allows for a more targeted approach. Social media plays an important role in how consumers discover, research, and share information about brands and products. Whilst design is the gateway to adding value to brands; as they are becoming more measurable, companies keep trying to increase their value, by using design to encourage people's trust (Neumeier, 2003).
Presently consumers are becoming more active in co‐creating marketing content with
companies and brands. Companies are therefore looking into online social media programs and campaigns to better reach their consumers because they also “live online”. It appears that the development of social media strategies on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter is not part of an integrated system of advertising and rather a separated event.
Marketers cannot depend on advertising alone; with social media there is an interaction with individuals and communities according to their particular interests and needs. A brand is now a relationship builder in this new age of branding (Christodoulides, 2007). The question now is: How will design contribute to this new reality? And what has been its contribute so far?
This thesis therefore studies design and designer’s roles in social media; what skills are necessary for designers to have in social media, whether design strategy is similar to social media strategy, what values and importance does design bring to social media and what will be the future of design in social media. Furthermore this thesis aims to address the bring light into these objectives:
Objectives:
• To better understand the relationship between social media and branding • To understand and elaborate upon strategies for the social media space
• To understand the role of the designer in the world of social media • Develop ways to empower design in social media spaces
• Learn how design can improve brands in the social media space
Table 1 illustrates the proposed research questions under investigation. They concern the role of design when branding in social media, the design skills necessary to work in social media. A question about design strategy and its similarity or not to social media strategy is also asked. The topic concerning what type of value design brings to branding in social media. In terms of value in this question we define it as ‘worth or merit’ but also monetary and material worth. The importance in this question means, its relevance and significance. Also, what types of roles will designers play in the future of social media.
Research Questions
Q1. What is the role of design when branding in social media?
Q1.1. What is the role of designers when branding in social media? Q2. What design skills are necessary to work for branding in
social media?
Q2.1. What skills are necessary to work in social media?
Q3. How is design strategy similar to social media strategy? Q3.1. What are the strategies used in design?
Q3.2. What are the strategies used in social media?
Q4. What value does design bring to branding in social media?
Q4.1. What is the importance of design when branding in social media?
Q5. What roles will designers play in the future in social media?
Q5.1. What will be the future of social media?
Q5.2. What will be the future of design in social media?
Table 1. The Research Questions
Along with answering these research questions this thesis aims to develop models to better understand the dynamics between design strategy and social media strategy. The theoretical fundamentals of the models were developed through interdisciplinary literature review, based on the collective knowledge of the expert interviewees and later validated through data analysis of an online survey done by a selected group of experts. We hope that trough these models and its validation findings we can shed some light into design use for branding in social media.
1.4 Chapter Summary
Figure 1 (next page) illustrates the thesis structure and summarizes each chapter. This figure guides us through the different steps of this thesis, which is divided in three sections. In Section 1 we approach the research problem, elaborate the research questions and develop the research goals. There is also the introduction to the themes in the study and a brief terms explanation. This section also includes the Literature Review where we discuss the three relevant areas that make this an interdisciplinary study: Branding (chapter 2), Design (chapter 3) and Social Media (chapter 4). This section aims to find the gap in knowledge, and further develop the research topics. We did a literature review, which gave us an overview of the key aspects in the chapters themes.
Section two concerns the research methodology in which we introduce the design methodology and the different methods for collecting data used. We then, selected the methods that were more suited to the specifics of the study approach. This study opted primarily for qualitative research methods, although we also did quantitative research in the form of an online survey. We did an exploratory study, an online survey and semi-‐structured interviews to find the right data needed for analysis.
Section three discusses the research findings of the qualitative and quantitative methods used as well as introducing, based on the research findings the two proposed models. We then used appropriate methods to validate the models, which resulted into proposed models with changes based on the interviewee’s feedback, analysis and in depth comments. After that we present the answers to the research questions as well as this thesis contribution to knowledge, limitations and further work. Chapter 10 includes the bibliography of the thesis and contains all references used. The final chapter, Appendices, has relevant information such as: participation information sheet, interview and online survey guides but, also all the articles published during the course of this thesis.
Figure 1. The Thesis Structure
1.5 Term Definitions
The terms used in this thesis can be interpreted and used in multiple ways depending on the area of expertise. Therefore, for clarity, a definition of the principle terms used is provided, whilst the literature reviews will in some cases elaborate further on these topics:
Marketing. The analysis, planning, implementation and control of carefully formulated programs designed to bring about voluntary exchanges of values with target markets for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives.
Marketing Communication. Interaction between a sender and receiver that delivers a core message to the receiver that is personally relevant and offers a personal benefit in exchange for the desired action
Mass media. Non-‐personal channels of communication that allow a message to be sent to many individuals at one time. Includes advertising and media relations.
Positioning. The relationship of an issue/program/service relative to the competition in the marketplace. Positioning is often determined by the characteristics of the issue/program/service and the wants and needs of the target audience.
Branding. The naming of a product, issue, service, or organization, with which the audience associates attributes and characteristics. Branding helps communicate the product’s position.
Audience segmentation. Segmentation is a selection process that divides the broad audience into manageable segments with common characteristics or wants that relate to the marketing exchange or marketing mix.
Targeted media. Media with a high potential to reach a specific audience. Target media can include mass media, but also encompasses special interest media and trade media.
Advertising. Is a way, which informs and persuades the act of purchasing a good ( product or service) through paid media (television, radio, magazine, newspaper, outdoor or direct mail.) Advertising is placed (bought) on the basis of media research (that measures the nature and size of the audience reached by the medium) to ensure the desired audience is ex-‐ posed to the message. Advertising provides control of content and delivery of message.
Stakeholders:A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization.
Point of purchase/service. Materials designed to display messages within the consumer’s environment, such as posters, countertop displays, shelf signage, etc.
Direct media. Communication that targets and delivers the message directly to the consumer through mail, telephone and computer.
Message. The core concept or idea to be communicated to a target audience. Effective messages contain a call to action, a key audience benefit, image and support that makes the message relevant, believable, feasible and compelling.
Pricing. Value applied to a marketing exchange. For goods or services, pricing generally implies monetary cost. In terms of social marketing, “time” might also be considered in terms of price (how much time will be exchanged for engaging in the desired behaviour.)
Public relations. Activities that create goodwill for an organization, which affect long-‐term public opinion.
ROI (Return on investment): The earning power of assets measured as the ratio of the net income (profit less depreciation) to the average capital employed (or equity capital) in a company or project.
ROE (Return on equity): Ratio measuring stockholders' (shareholders') profitability, expressed as a percentage of the firm's net worth. ROE indicates a firm's efficiency in applying
common-‐stockholders' (ordinary-‐shareholders') money. Formula: Net income ÷ Net worth.
Metrics: Standards of measurement by which efficiency, performance, progress, or quality of a plan, process, or product can be assessed.
Section 1: Literature Review
2. Section Overview
The aim of this section is to contribute to a better understanding of the current state of research and knowledge about: branding, design and social media. We need to understand the gaps in the literature and the relationships and interdependencies of branding in social media. Therefore, we outlined the key literature within branding to identify the gaps of knowledge within the literature.
Marketing literature has developed several models and ways to evaluate brands [both offline and online (ex: social media)], their contribution to business, and the overall company ROI. However when trying to understand branding in social media through a design perspective there is a gap in literature that can be explored and considered through design and design management literature. In the design literature review chapter we understand how marketers in branding can benefit from a design perspective and how branding and design can benefit from each other when applied in social media. The social media chapter is a further exploration into the online branding literature but it also adds knowledge combined with social marketing literature. Little research has been done regarding design’s contribution to branding in social media, even though social media is a highly visual means of communication. There is however, a significant amount of literature for branding in social media and the exponential growth of consumer’s importance in social media. Concepts like interaction, engagement and storytelling are emerging from the social media/branding literature and they are also ultimately design concepts.
2.1 Branding
There are numerous definitions of what a brand is; a definition provided by the Random House Dictionary of the English Language says that a brand is a "product or service bearing a widely known brand name."
A brand is the representation of all information about a product or group of products. It can be considered a symbol that is composed of a name, identifying mark, logo, visual images or symbols, or mental concepts, which distinguishes the product or service. A brand is also filled with connotations of a products “ promise”. Marketers can give a product a personality or an image through the use of a brand. Marketing tries to "brand", or burn, the image into the consumer's mind by associating it with the image of a quality product. Brands can form an important element of advertising as they serve as a way to show and tell consumers what a supplier has to offer (Aaker, 1991).
The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers. Keller and Lehmann (2006) take a wider perspective making a distinction between the brand definition as set by AMA and the industry's concept of branding. Keller adds tangible and intangible brand elements, rational & emotional brand elements, and symbolic brand elements, which differentiate and identify a brand. As a consequence Keller's definition is taken from a more holistic point of view: "A brand is therefore more than a product, because it can have dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same needs" (Keller and Lehmann, 2006).
Gelder recognizes the managerial interdependencies and argues that "a brand is the translation of the business strategy into a consumer experience that brings about specific behaviour" (Gelder, 2003: p.16). In a more traditional definition brand is: " the name, associated with one or more items in the product line, used to identify the source of character of the item(s)" (Kotler, 2000: p.396).
There are numerous brand definitions, according to the American Society of Marketing a brand is “a name, term, symbol, or design, or combination of them, intended to identify the goods and
services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”
(Kotler, 2000, p.404). A more universal definition says that a brand is a “cluster of functional and emotional values, which promises stake holders a particular experience,” (Chernatony and Riley, 1999). According to Blackett and Boad a brand in its simplest form represents the promises that a product makes to the consumer (Blackett, Tom and Boad,1999).
Previously the brand was regarded as just another step in the process of marketing to sell products “…the brand has been treated in an off-‐ hand fashion as a part of the product” (Urde, 1999: p.119). As it was part of the product its communication strategy was to work towards exposing the brand and creating brand image, Kotler (2000) says that it is a “major issue in product strategy”. Kapferer talks about the brand as signs, and for that reason external, whose function is to allow the product qualities that are inaccessible to be seen. The brand was a way to identify and differentiate a product from its competitors (Kapferer 2008). According to Kohli (1997) the challenge is to create a strong and distinctive image.
According to Neumeier (2003) people often confuse the term brand with other terms like Logotype, Trademark, Corporate Identity system and also products and services. A brand is much less tangible then that, and Neumeier (2003:p.3) even refers to it as "… an approximate -‐ yet distinct -‐ understanding of a product, service or company." It is less tangible because, we as individuals define it, and human beings are emotional and intuitive despite our rational side. So, we all translate/project/create our version of what a brand means to us, and it varies from person to person. When we have enough people sharing the same opinion about a brand, that's when we know we have one. Aaker says that brands are a strategic asset and that they should be managed, for it is a key asset for long-‐term performance (Aaker, 2002).
Kapferer (2007) agrees with the previous authors and appends the source of influence; a system of interconnected mental associations (brand image) and relationships. According to Kapferer a brand exists when it has the power to influence the market acquired by its sources of cumulative brand experience. The dynamics of branding and the bidirectional contingencies between the brand and the market makes the brand a living system build around three anchor points; (1) product & service, (2) name & symbols, (3) concept.
Lake says that a strong brand is invaluable, as it gets harder to approach customers each and every day. The investment in a brand is necessary because you are investing in the source of a promise to your consumer. Your brand is now in the minds and hearts of consumers everywhere, they have their expectations, experiences and perceptions about it. Nowadays brands as not just the result of advertising messages that we see in the marketplace. A brand is what is perceived by the consumer’s mind (Lake, 2009).
Kotler and Pfoertsch adopted the holistic paradigm and argue that a brand is a promise to the consumer at which the brand has formed a set of perceptions about a product, service or business. It holds therefore a distinctive influential position in customer's mind where the brand represents a shortcut of attributes, benefits, beliefs and values based on past experiences, associations and future expectations. Finally it is the brand that differentiates, reduce complexity, and simplify the decision-‐making process (Kotler and Pfoertsch, 2007).
Therefore a brand can represent an image, an experience and embodies the consumer’s perception. It can represent all these things at once and none at all and be able to resonate differently within each consumer, meaning different things to different people.
Consumers are used to regarding a brand as an important aspect of a product, and it can also add value to a product or service. The brand also carries the reputation of a product or company. People often have and image or an idea of a brand and they associate it with a product, service, trademark, or other image-‐related asset—the Shell sign, for example. A brand can be regarded as trusted, reliable product or service whose use brings predictable results and experiences. Other can view the brand as an economic asset and tangible expression of what accountants call “good will,” that attempts to put a dollar value on an otherwise intangible corporate possession (Moon, Michael and Millison, 2000).
2.1.1 The importance of branding
These traditional definitions of brand leave out the most significant aspect it, its relationship with the consumer, perspectives, terms, expectations, and needs (Ellwood, 2002). Dolak says that a brand is an identifiable entity that makes some specific promise of value. Branding is used to create emotional attachment to products and companies. Branding efforts create a feeling of involvement, a sense of higher quality, and an aura of intangible qualities that surround the brand name, mark, or symbol (Dolak, 2009).
Successful brands have their name recognized by the audience and that builds strategic awareness. Branding is more important today than ever due to the huge amount of advertising, media fragmentation, the commoditization of products, and the seemingly limitless choices we are offered in just about every product category (O’Malley, 2010). A brand can be regarded as influential regarding the buyer’s decisions, they can create and emotional bond of trust that is not always based on logic or intellectual reasoning. The brand also helps to increase the company’s or product/service value and to enhance it by association (Kapferer, 1997).
Branding is now the most important aspect of business, and everyone wants to measure its value. If you have a powerful brand your business will bloom. It becomes increasingly more important to make the consumers see that your brand is the only one that could fill all their needs and desires (Millward Brown, 2009). Branding has become part of pop culture. Numerous products have a brand identity: from common table salt to designer clothes. Non-‐commercially, branding can also apply to the marketing of entities, which supply ideas or promises rather than goods and services -‐-‐ such as political parties or religious organizations (Ellwood, 2002).
Brands have evolved into a powerful marketing asset. Starting from being just a message about the products identity is now something with its own concept, with its own identity. A brand represents the value of a company or organization. Through out its strong identity a brand can create relationships with its consumers, with the people who work directly with it (employees, suppliers, etc.). These relationships can be possible if the brand fulfils the stakeholder’s aspirations. The better this relationships are, the better the probability of obtaining a long term relationship that will lead to preference, loyalty and an interest to invest.
2.1.2 Brand History
According to Moor (2007) brands have operated as a force in the organization of production since the mid to late nineteenth century. The term branding appears to have emerged during the 1990’s when a particular set of practices – product design, retail design, point-‐of-‐purchase marketing, among others came together to look at marketing and business in a strategic way. Brands recapitulate the long history of the strategic use of symbol and imagery as a conveyance of power, prestige, and goodness. Brands work on the human psyche the same way as religious symbols, totems, fetishes, and a host of other symbolic communications that include the heraldry of kings and the icons of liveries, bakers, and other craftspeople. (Moon, Michael and Millison, 2000).
The following table highlights some of the most significant developments in the evolution of brands. This timeline was based in “Brand New History,” a January 2000 article in Red Herring magazine as well as Adrian Room’s “History of Branding” in Brands: The New Wealth Creators (New York University Press, 1998) and its featured in the Michael Moon book: Firebrands: building brand loyalty in the Internet age.
The concept of branding and the idea of brand has been around for at least 5000 years but now it has become quite important because our society moved from an economy of mass production to an economy of mass customization and now our purchasing choices have multiplied. The author Neumeier (2006: p.3) says, " We have become information-‐rich and time-‐poor". So what is important is "The degree of trust I feel towards the product, rather than an assessment of its features and benefits…" that will determine whether a person will buy your product or not. This is because nowadays we are quite symbolic and emotional about our choices because previously we have been judging products by comparing features and benefits, and now with all the copyright infringements for their features and subsequently loss of quality we turn to our gut feeling about a brand, what it feels to us as individuals from a tribe of brand users. According to the author we are quite emotional about the
